About to buy a TJM front bumper

mikem

Well-known member
Apr 19, 2004
172
0
Superior, CO
mikem said:
You might be able to do it alone, but it will be a bitch to line up the bolts. Get someone to help if you can.

Mike

I meant its difficult if you are trying to hold the bumper at the same time.

You don't need the winch tray unless you are fitting a winch. You can install the winch tray later, but you'll have to remove the bumper to do it. You'll have to remove the bumper to install the winch anyway, so it won't be any extra work.

Mike
 

rmuller

Well-known member
Apr 28, 2004
4,452
1
Northern NJ
www.njlr.org
Well, job done! Only took 4.5 hours.. did it myself, without any jackstands.. let me just tell you, it took some skill trying to lift that bar, position it, and get the bolts in! A couple questions though,

1. What do you guys use for recovery points? should I perhaps drill and mount some jate rings?
2. In the directions it said that when mounting the bumper, put the welded on brackets [im assuming they meant on the actual bumper itself] towards the inside [of the brackets attached to the car] .. as much as I tried, there was no way that was happening, they fit snugly on the outside though.. is this ok?
3. What is that hoop/ring for on the very top of the brush bar?

Thanks guys! You've all been a great help.
 

Jeremy Parkhouse

Active member
May 8, 2004
36
0
63
Dhahran, Saudi Arabia
The hoop/ring thing on top of the brush bar is, I believe, a method of mounting a Hi-Lift jack, but I could be wrong.

With regard the position of the bumper mounts, I seem to remember I could also not get them to fit as in the instructions. I found the description in the instructions a little confusing anyway, but that is probably just me!

Cheers

Jeremy Parkhouse
DII, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia
 

rmuller

Well-known member
Apr 28, 2004
4,452
1
Northern NJ
www.njlr.org
Jeremy Parkhouse said:
I found the description in the instructions a little confusing anyway, but that is probably just me!

Not just you! Their wording was very confusing, I had to reread everything 5 times.. felt like I was taking the SATs...
 

JSQ

Well-known member
Apr 21, 2004
3,259
1
44
San Diego, CA
ahh recovery points...
and now the TJM controversy can fully unfold.
a little hard to get shackles on there isn't it.

then we can get on to the weld on RTE type and whether or not they hold up.
 

rmuller

Well-known member
Apr 28, 2004
4,452
1
Northern NJ
www.njlr.org
I was thinking about two of these:

DSC05438340.jpg
 
S

Snwbord24

Guest
:D ARB and dixon-bates
 

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stansell

Well-known member
Jun 14, 2004
364
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51
Norfolk, VA
I have pulled Shane out of a lot of holes using his recovery points due to his inclination to get stuck whenever possible, so I can attest that the Dixon Bates are at the very least adequate. :cool:
 

GuntherRocks

Member
Aug 25, 2004
20
0
43
Midwest
I watched a guy get his TJM bumper bent up fairly well since there were not any recovery points on it when he went on the outing with us. They fished a rope through the two access holes which quickly ripped in half. Then they put a choker chain on it. That was the one that bent it up a little :)

I have an RTE slimline and like it alot. I've gotten pulled out a few times and pulled out the beater cherokee with it a few times as well. It's stout.
 

Discokayaker

Well-known member
Apr 23, 2004
85
0
Danville, CA
Due to the TJM being an airbag compliant bumper with crush cans you cannot mount recovery points to the bumper and expect it to hold up. Mount your recovery points to the winch tray. Take a look at the previously mentioned solution on the Expedition Exchange web site.

Lance
 

rmuller

Well-known member
Apr 28, 2004
4,452
1
Northern NJ
www.njlr.org
Hmm, I dont have a winch mount yet, want to wait to get an OME set up before i start adding that much weight.. are there any other viable options that I can do? can i mount anything to the mounting bracket perhaps?
 

Discokayaker

Well-known member
Apr 23, 2004
85
0
Danville, CA
I don't thing a recovery point mounted to the bumper mounting bracket would work because it wouldn't give you much direct access to the recovery point. If you put a hook/ring up under the bumper (mounting bracket) you will be putting upward pressure on your bumper during a recovery. The TJM bumper tends to shift a little anyway and I can see the bull bar shifting into your hood if you are doing a hard recovery with points mounted to the mounting brackets. Besides there isn't much on the mounting brackets anyway.

I don't know if Jate rints will work or not as I don't have any experience with them.

Lance
 

RotorRover

New member
Aug 30, 2004
3
0
Urgh. Recovery points. I'll throw my 2 cents in here. I recently bought the TJM T17 Blade version and wish I had done more research first regarding recovery points before making the purchase. It is not possible to mount recovery points on the bumper due to air bag issues as mentioned already. This leaves few options. As indicated you must first purchase and install the winch tray before you can mount recovery points. This 1) adds weight and cost and 2) appears to limit the available recovery angles so as not to put stress on the bumper.

My point is consider very carefully what requirements you have for a bumper. Oh well I guess you can't have it all, that is air bags and a fully functional bumper. The Rovertyme bumbers seem to be the most effective for rugged off roading but you lose some protection on everyday driving.

Other than that the bumper was easy to install and looks good on the truck.
 

Loydster

Well-known member
Apr 20, 2004
685
1
I am also considering the TJM bumper. Has anyone welded the crush cans and then added recovery points.

Any thoughts on this idea. I am not so worried about the airbag but i dont care for the looks of the rovertym bumper that much.

Thanks for any input
 

Discokayaker

Well-known member
Apr 23, 2004
85
0
Danville, CA
Rotorover. . .I can understand not wanting to add the weight of the winch tray or the added cost; however, I don't think you are limited with the Curt Manufacturing hooks attached tothe tray. They stick out enough where I can't imagine a recovery angle that would't be possible.

Lance
 
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Snwbord24

Guest
I have the ARB airbag compatible front bumper and I've added recovery points to it. I know some if not most of you will say I shouldn't do that because of the airbags. I have them just outside of the winch box, dual dixon-bates (pic is in earlier post of this thread). I know if the winch box can take the stress then so can my recovery points since they're even closer to the frames than the winch is. The only thing I can think of watching is the hard jerking of the bumper using the recovery points or the bumper itself. If I need to jerk it hard enough to set the airbags off then I'm in a pretty bad spot. My plan is to add the jate rings to the front for situations like that.

If you're just pulling on them, then front recovery points on an airbag compatible bumper isn't a big deal at all. And I don't think It'll bend my ARB.

As always, this is just my opinion here.
 

mikem

Well-known member
Apr 19, 2004
172
0
Superior, CO
Snwbord24 said:
I have the ARB airbag compatible front bumper and I've added recovery points to it. I know some if not most of you will say I shouldn't do that because of the airbags. I have them just outside of the winch box, dual dixon-bates (pic is in earlier post of this thread). I know if the winch box can take the stress then so can my recovery points since they're even closer to the frames than the winch is. The only thing I can think of watching is the hard jerking of the bumper using the recovery points or the bumper itself. If I need to jerk it hard enough to set the airbags off then I'm in a pretty bad spot. My plan is to add the jate rings to the front for situations like that.

Shane,

The problem with recovery points on an airbag compatible bumper is caused by the crush cans, not the potential to set off the air bags.

The crush cans are designed to absorb energy from an impact and limit the amount of force transfered to the airbag sensors. They are relatively flexible and if you pull on them too hard, they will stretch or bend.

The winch tray on the TJM bumper is bolted directly to the frame so it makes a suitable place for recovery points. The bumper itself is mounted to the crush cans and is not a solid point to recover from.

I'm not sure how the ARB bumper is designed, but it's probably similiar to the TJM. RTE and other non-airbag certified bumpers are solidly mounted on the frame, so they can be used for recovery.

Mike
 
S

Snwbord24

Guest
I guess what I'm saying is that if the bumper has been tested and rated for up to a 12k lb winch then the crush cans should hold up just fine using the recovery points. Does this make sense?